


The Veritable Records of Jang Bong Hwan

by metafanatical



Category: Queen Cheorin, 철인왕후 | Mr. Queen (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fix-It, Hurt/Comfort, Internal Conflict, M/M, Post-Canon Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:42:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29512686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/metafanatical/pseuds/metafanatical
Summary: "You just seem to know a lot about the CheolJong era, for someone who doesn't have a degree in the field", Not-Cheoljong explains. "Are you a hobbyist?"Bong Hwan stares back. "You could say... I'm an anti-fan".Jang Bong Hwan thought he'd be more relieved, having finally returned to the present after many failed, desperate attempts. Sure, it could've gone better, but what's he going to do? Vex about the lack of closure over his sudden departure from some inexplicableJoseon-era-time-swap-soul-exchangescenario to a psychiatrist?He'll get over it, he thinks.But then he finds himself before a familiar face, and now he's not so sure about that anymore.
Relationships: Cheoljong of Joseon/Jang Bong Hwan, Jang Bonghwan/King Cheoljong, King Cheoljong/Jang Bong-hwan
Comments: 16
Kudos: 164





	The Veritable Records of Jang Bong Hwan

Jang Bong Hwan feels empty. 

It's been a month since he's woken up from his coma, and 3 weeks since he's been released from the hospital. 

The first thing he does once he's out ( _officially, not by escaping through a window_ ) is to get his hands on a copy of _The Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty_. He reads through the section on King CheolJong, then reads through it again, then through 3 other books on the history of the CheolJong era, and maybe a political science one on the impact of King Cheoljong on Korea’s primitive democratic system (alright, not that one).

He cries when he comes across the section on the Queen's firstborn child— his daughter. Knowing that the child was born healthy comforts him. He struggles to find much else on the status of the Internal Court servants, but he knows— he's sure that everything worked out for the better for them with Queen Soyong at the helm. 

Bong Hwan thought he'd be more relieved, having finally returned to the present after all his failed, desperate attempts to do so. But he finds himself missing the past and its inhabitants, who he’d once struggled so desperately to get away from. Knowing that his closest friends and confidantes were safe and likely content should be a comfort to him. He knows that should be enough, but it isn't. It's selfish, he thinks, but he wishes he could've had more time to say goodbye. 

Logically, Bong Hwan knows that there's nothing else he could've done. What's he going to do? Vex about the lack of closure over his sudden departure from some inexplicable _Joseon-era-time-swap-soul-exchange_ scenario to a psychiatrist? He doesn't think he can even begin to explain the confusion of living as a different gender for months. 

So he doesn't. He distracts himself from the thought by throwing himself into his work. He's back to business at the Blue House within a week, despite the polite hints from his superiors that he take it slow after his hospitalisation. Cooking feels a little lonely without The Royal Chef around to bug, but he's thankful for cooling systems and the abundance of dairy ingredients in the modern world, at least.

* * *

When Bong Hwan isn’t working, he finds himself at the National Library, working through any historical records on the Cheoljong era that he can get his hands on.The librarians know him by now, though he's not sure if it's due to the frequency of his visits, or that time he whooped a little too loudly when he came across a particularly rare document on Queen Cheorin's Internal Court reforms.

"Afternoon," greets the librarian at the front desk today. She’s the chirpier one of the librarians working there, and Bong Hwan’s glad he caught her on her shift today. "Here to return these?” 

“Yeah. Sorry, there’s a lot of ‘em this time,” he gestures, handing over a heavy stack of books.

"I think you must've read practically every historical Joseon book here in the past 2 weeks," she jests, leaning the books neatly against themselves as she scans them one after the other.

Bong Hwan grins. She reminds him a little of Hong Yeon in her mannerisms. He thinks he'd probably have flirted with her in a past timeline, if it weren't for the fact that he's more respectable of, or rather... _in touch_ with women now. That, or the association of his memories of the Palace is too painful to revisit— _No, definitely the chivalry thing_ , Bong Hwan decides, giving himself an assertive nod.

"—Sir?" The librarian repeats, breaking him out of his haze of thoughts. 

" _Shit_ , sorry!" Bong Hwan exclaims, late to respond, and late to the realisation of his volume as he notices the other library-goers who’ve turned their attention to him. "I mean, _ahh_ — sorry about that", he scrambles, nodding apologetically to the disapproving mother and child in the queue behind him.

The librarian laughs, "It's fine, sir. Sorry I startled you. I was just saying that the library just got hold of the digital copies for some Joseon-era archive files. Newly released from the National Archives. I just thought you'd be interested in them, but it's alright if you—"

" _YES_ ," Bong Hwan responds immediately this time, and a lot louder than before, to the distress of his fellow library occupants.

* * *

It’s how Bong Hwan finds himself browsing through some newly compiled archive files on a library computer, in an overly phosphorescently-lit wing of the library. _It's not the worst way to spend a Saturday evening_ , he thinks, almost regretfully. He's too mature to be spending his night clubbing all the time anyway. 

The new archive record seems to be pretty standard. He found that to be the same for most of the other archives he could get his hands on. They’re mostly the same rehashed records of King Cheoljong’s reign pieced together over sparse retellings of an already established narrative that Bong Hwan’s already read through. He wishes he could find more records beyond the very rare mentions of Queen Cheorin, or rarer yet, the rest of the Internal Court. 

He flips briskly through the remaining journal, with half a mind to skip the rest of it and head to the nearby bar so he can regain _some_ semblance of wasted youth, when he comes across a seemingly innocuous passage that he has to read twice to be sure of. 

It’s a commentary on an archive record that’s so patently wrong that he doesn’t know where to begin. He knows it’s wrong because he actually lived through it as Queen Soyong, but _it doesn’t take a genius_ , Bong Hwan scoffs, _to be able to come away with the correct interpretation just by looking at the record._ What he’s looking at, however, is an analysis from a historical archivist that is so beyond convoluted that it twists into being downright treason.

The inaccuracy is too much for Bong Hwan to ignore, so he does the natural thing. The archivist who managed to somehow get a degree in being inexplicably and hopelessly wrong is looked up, and tracked down. A polite email of disagreement is sent to said academic, disputing the inaccuracies of his publication. _It has just the right amount of expletives_ , Bong Hwan thinks. He sends it, and almost immediately forgets about it after half a night of drinking.

* * *

The National Archive building is much more labyrinthine than it has any right being. Bong Hwan doesn’t understand the need for four entire buildings towering over everything in view of the complex, mostly because it’s taken him half an hour just searching for the office he’s looking for. He’s finally made it to the waiting room of the office, but finds that there's more waiting to do because apparently the National Archives is unfamiliar with the concept of walk-ins. Bong Hwan sighs loudly as he sits spread legged on the waiting room couches, ignoring the disapproving glance from the receptionist over her desk across from him. He’s the only one here anyway, and he’s already filled out the form she forced on him 20 minutes ago.

He’d probably still be in bed now, nursing a bad hangover, if it weren’t for an astonishingly swift response to an email he’d forgotten he even wrote, asking him to meet his dissenter outside to settle their academic disagreement like men. Okay, not really. It was more of a “ _I politely disagree, but you’re free to come to my office to discuss this_ ”, but Bong Hwan doesn’t see much of a difference when he knows he’s there to tear this stodgy academic apart anyway.

After what seems like forever, the receptionist calls his name, turning her head to gesture at a door detachedly.

“Right, thanks,” Bong Hwan says, nodding at her as he makes his way towards the room.

There’s a plate on the door obnoxiously titled “Archive Manager” which he pushes past as he barges into the office, barely deigning to knock. Inside, the archive manager has his back turned to the door, busying himself with a nearby stack of papers. “Come in. I’m just putting these away”. 

Bong Hwan can only see the back of his head, but the man appears a lot younger than he expected. His hair is medium length but neatly styled, and he seems somewhat shorter than him. Bong Hwan reckons that he could take him in a fight, not that it really matters. Really, he just wants to get this over with so he can get home to nurse his killer headache. By the time he’s done with him, Mr. Archive Manager will have regretted wasting years of his life as a failed archivist.

Exasperated at the long wait, Bong Hwan clears his throat loudly, forcing the man to finally turn around and meet his eyes.

He freezes.

“...Cheol Jong?”

**Author's Note:**

> _Me: I really need to get into writing mode to meet that research paper deadline_   
>  _Brain: Proceeds to draft out an entire multichapter fix-it fic_
> 
> If you've made it this far, thanks for reading! I usually write one-shots, so this is my first multi-chaptered fic, but that ending ~~DESTROYED ME~~ COMPELLED me to write some justice for our boy Bong Hwan. 
> 
> Fair warning: I've got to get back to my paper deadline now, so it might be a while before the next chapter update. 🥺 But I've got most of the main points plotted out so the chapters after that will be quick. Please look forward to them!
> 
> Also, if you wanna discuss headcanons or just chat, I'm on [ Twitter ](https://twitter.com/metafanatical) and [ Tumblr ](https://metafanatical.tumblr.com)!!


End file.
